NATURE STUDY BOOK REVIEWS

This is a wonderful nature study book for all ages!

"An incredible variety of seeds are celebrated in all their beauty and wonder."

I could not agree more! We often pull this one off the shelf just to enjoy the lovely illustrations. The first open spread page is a feast of seeds while the last open spread page is filled with the corresponding plants they become, illustrated in vibrant watercolours! Gorgeous diagrams and illustrations adorn the pages in between, which are filled with equally engaging text. A real treat!

Could I just ditto the above remarks for A Seed is Sleepy? Except this time the topic is eggs!

Even the end papers brim with information.

Ok, can I be really cheeky and ditto a third time! The latest Dianna Hutts Aston book A Butterfly is Patient is just as beautifully illustrated and engaging as the other two above!! A worthwhile investment for any nature study basket!

This hefty book has been our "how to" and reference book for nature study. It is written for the northern hemisphere, but we have found it a wonderful tool and have easily been able to slot in our own local wildlife or wildflowers when the lesson has not been relevant to where we live. You can read more about how we have used it here.

Book 1 is written in rather large print and the stories are short and concise. Spiders, honeybees, ants, wasps, ladybugs, mosquitoes and snails are some of the many topics covered in the stories.

In Book 2 the print is still large, but the stories are longer and more detailed. Some of the topics covered in Book 1 are revisitied, but in more depth. The topics covered in this book are crabs, wasps, bees, spiders, shellfish and worms.

Book 3 contains smaller print and the topics covered are ants, flies, beetles, barnacles, jellyfish, sea stars and dragonflies.

Book 4 covers perching birds, birds of prey, studying birds, insects, moths, turtles and snakes, toad, bat and beaver.

The topics covered in Book 5 are how food is used, important tools for eating, important systems for life, the senses, the structure of the body, animal forms and functions and the crown of creation.

This is such a sweet little book! It is an excellent introduction to seeds and fruits. I love the dedication at the beginning of the book, "To my mother, Eva Zeisel, who taught me that it is always better to put a seed into the ground than to leave it in a drawer."

Jody's Beans is just the kind of book you need to inspire you to grow a bean! Now I know this might sound silly, but I still get excited when we plant beans! (Actually, I get excited when we plant anything!)

The author lives on a little island off the north west coast of Ireland and his favourite sight is the runner beans in full flower- a mass of bright scarlet, with the prospect of tasty meals to come.

I found a book called Painting Nature in Pen and Ink with Watercolor by the same author in our library years ago and it was one of those books you renew a few times! I couldn't source it anywhere at the time, but was delighted to find that she had this book which was a combination of a few of her books and it contained all the information that the nature book had in it! We have used this book so many times and sometimes I just pull it off the shelf for inspiration! The pages burst with new techniques to try, lush illustrations and lots of extra bits and pieces tucked in between! One of our favourite favourites.

Linnea's Almanac is almost a condensed nature journal if you like, as Linnea keeps track of her indoor and outdoor activities all year round. Linnea lives in the city, but that does not stop her observing the changes in the seasons and all the other wonderful happenings around her! "All over my room, things are growing." She will inspire you to create, appreciate and find new enthusiasm for those days when you need it! Delightful little book.

This book will give you plenty of ideas to grow your own nature study area! No excuses! We learnt such a lot not only about growing things, but the water cycle, plant anatomy, seeds and a myriad of other things. Told in typical Linnea style makes this book a delightful read and a wealth of information for children and adults.

Eliza and the Dragonfly is a book that stood on my shelf for ages! We were reading one morning and noticed hoardes of dragonflies hovering all over our garden! It was one of those moments when you realise you could sit indoors reading to your children about the Vikings, or you could have a hands on, spontaneous and meaningful lesson outdoors! I grabbed a blanket, Eliza and the Dragonfly, our Handbook of Nature Study and a couple of enthusiastic children and we spent the next few hours soaking in the sunshine and trying to catch dragonflies with a butterfly net we quickly whipped up- which by the way was highly unsuccessful! Dragonflies are way too clever for a butterfly net! However, this is a charming book with lots of information about dragonflies, their life cycles and how to make a waterscope.

When we had just moved to Australia and were waiting for 9 weeks in a hotel for our stuff to arrive, a dear friend bought a pile of books for me to devour! Pocketful of Pinecones was among them, and I ended up investing in my own copy! For anyone starting on the road of a Charlotte Mason type education, or wanting to implement nature study into their daily routine, this is a great place to start. Written in story form and exploring the path of gentle learning this one comes highly recommended!